@Holly Saunders I keep remarking about the unfortunate empowerment being exercised by the lawmakers, but few agree with me. Frank
Laws are good Frank and needed, the problem is when common sense isn't used by the prosecution. If it goes to trail, hopefully a jury will find him not guilty. I would rather have more laws than no laws. What a free for all that would be!
@Chrissy Page The real difficulty as I see it, Chrissy, is that many of the laws such as the one imposed here, should never have been entered into the books as written. That's the result of lawmakers passing them without public consent, or at least, discussion. A good example lies in the Affordable Healthcare Act, the content of which was not even known to the majority of Congress, and was remarked about by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, who said, "We won't know the contents of the law until it's passed". How amazing a "lawmaker" is she? Absolutely remarkable statement! Actually, nearly moronic, IMO.
I don't know Frank, I know we vote on some laws. I really don't follow most so I don't even know what you are telling me is true is or not without a link. I've lived 65 years without problems, have never been arrested and really don't think it will happen in the future either. There are lots of laws on the books supposedly that are still there but not enforced. I never got the affordable care act and wasn't fined either. I just don't worry about these things. I save my worrying for other things.
Far too often, common sense has been removed from both law enforcement and the justice system. People are ticketed and fined, not because they have done something that might be detrimental to safety but because cities depend on this revenue in order to fund its police departments and other services, and people are prosecuted simply because they have done something for which a conviction might be obtained. The worth of a prosecutor is calculated by his conviction rate, not as to whether or not he was able to bring justice. Thus, even when they are not persuaded that a person is guilty, they will prosecute if they believe they can get a conviction. When judges look upon people who come before them on a case by case basis, they are accused of being light on crime. Television cements these roles, so that the public expects the police to make demands that are not within their legal authority, and we are not shocked when prosecutors charge anyone who they can convict regardless of guilt or innocence, and we no longer have respect for judges who show mercy. The railroad passing through Elsa, Texas had been abandoned, and the tracks removed. Yet, a signal light remained at one of the former railroad crossings. Every now and then, the signal would go on, which we referred to as the "ghost train." One night, one of the Elsa cops decided to ticket someone for not stopping for the railroad crossing light. He was undeterred by the argument that no train had been by there in years and the tracks had even been removed. The prosecutor decided to take it to court, and the man was found guilty of not stopping for the ghost train. As citizens, we are supposed to obey the laws rather than consider whether or not they make sense. Something similar happened in Los Fresnos one weekend. For a half hour before school began during the school year, and for a half hour after it let out, a light would automatically flash changing the speed limit in the school zone from 30mph to 15mph, or something like that; I forget the actual numbers. Due to an electrical problem that couldn't be fixed until Monday, the lights were flashing continuously all weekend. Although there was no school on Saturday and Sunday, and everyone knew that the lights were flashing due to an electrical problem, the police department wrote one ticket after another to people who wrongly assumed that they were free to ignore a light that wasn't supposed to be flashing anyhow. People get life sentences for stealing a candy bar, due to third-strike laws in some states. Police departments should exist in order to keep us safe rather than to watch over us as if we were prisoners already. Prosecutors should seek to bring justice rather than to secure convictions, and judges should be allowed and encouraged to consider each case before them individually rather than to be saddled with mandatory sentencing laws and an expectation that everyone should be given the maximum sentence for everything.
I see the opposite sometimes, pedophiles getting light sentences,then getting out and committing more crimes. I would think the opposite with prosecutors if they want convictions..they're not going to try a case if they know the evidence isn't there for a guilty verdict. As for the school speed zone, it's when children are present...not monday through Friday so I always just slow down by a school zone because there are lots of things that go on at a school on a Saturday. Even though I usually have a heavy foot and tend to speed, I'm very careful in the school zones. Many get tickets there, plus you can hit a child which is even worse.
@Ken Anderson ".....judges should be allowed and encouraged to consider each case before them individually" Understood, and Agreed! But, who will do the allowing and encouraging, if citizenry cower before the judges. Growing up in Crook,.....er, Cook County, Illinois, I learned firsthand of the "machine". SOP when pulled over for some infraction was to place a greenback bill on the seat next to you. If it was adequate, the cop took it, case closed. If not sufficient, he shook his head. Then, your option to up the pay-off. Sometimes, depending on the offense, of course, the bill was ignored, ya got the ticket. These cops had morals! I never heard of one instance where one took the dough, and wrote the ticket anyway! DUI? Certain lawyers had it down to a science. One, who specialized in such "services" defended my co-worker who had been charged with DUI. The lawyer advised of the court date, but called Bruce to change it. "They scheduled a different judge. New date: ----------- . Cost: $250. The "split" between the judge and lawyer was never divulged. The arresting officer just stood there as the call-out, "Dismissed" was rendered. We wondered if the cop got a piece, too. Lot of secrets in that "system". Graft in Cook County reached it's peak during the reign of Mayor Richard J. Daly. Despite that, "A poll of 160 historians, political scientists and urban experts ranked Daley as the sixth best mayor in American history"! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_J._Daley#Legacy Ask, though, any of the minorities who suffered through the riots of 1968, how Daly's cops treated them. I have made none of this up. I lived it, and experienced it. BTW, that lawyer was younger than I, may still be at work. His name: Peter Ritsos. Frank
My question is why was your friend drinking and driving? To me that's worse than what the cops or lawyers did. That's just money, DUI could kill an innocent family. Priorities! Actually I lived in Chicago during the Daley years and although everybody knew they were slightly crooked, the Daley's weren't really all that bad and even republicans admit that.
Sorry, don't see it that way. I'm very much against drinking and driving. If your gonna drink....stay home. If you don't care about your life at least think of the lives of the people you may kill. Crooked lawyers and cops taking bribes? Not good either but doesn't kill anybody. I'll take that over the other.
The situation described by Beth is exactly what happened to my ex's son, years ago. The couple was having consensual sex, and both were teens, although he was I believe a year older. Her parents had allowed them to have sex, and allowed him to sleep over, but then apparently at some point, they changed their mind, and had him charged with statutory rape. He was a registered sex offender because of that. When I came into the picture and learned of the situation, I insisted that my then fiance and his son see an attorney to find out what could be done. By that time, his (then adult son) was a father by that time, and if he and his wife split up, she could use that against him, to take the children. He was finally able to have it expunged from his record somehow, but of course it involved a lot of time, attorneys, and money.